Posts Tagged: trees

Lawn-pocalypse! Surviving Drought

Ah, summer! The season of sunburns, pool parties, and… lawn droughts. If your once lush, green carpet now looks like a crunchy brown doormat, you're not alone. Let's dive into why your yard is staging a dramatic death scene and what you can do to...

Bermuda grass and weeds overtaking drought stressed turf grass.

A patch of former lawn, mostly dead, with a few green weeds and Bermudagrass

Webinars explore role of trees in climate change resilience, May 14-16

A free webinar series titled “Trees to the Rescue: Solutions for Climate Change” will be held on May 14-16, from 4 p.m. to 5:30 p.m. each day. The webinars are sponsored by the University of California Thelma Hansen Fund.

“The webinars aim to increase our understanding of the role of trees in mitigating and adapting to climate change, how to plant the right trees and keep them healthy in urban environments, and the challenges of increasing the number of trees at the local level,” said Annemiek Schilder, director of Hansen Agricultural Research and Extension Center, who is organizing the series. Hansen REC is operated by UC Agriculture and Natural Resources.

Participants will discuss some of the challenges and pitfalls of reforestation, urban greening and tree equity. They will also provide diverse perspectives on tree planting and maintenance efforts and policy at the local level.

“Anyone interested in learning about the importance of trees in urban environments and climate resilience, as well as tree retention in the landscape should join us,” she said.

The agenda for each 90-minute webinar is listed below. To register, visit https://bit.ly/HansenTreesWebinar. 

Tuesday, May 14: Trees as a Tool for Climate Change Mitigation and Resilience

4 p.m. Welcome—Annemiek Schilder, Director of Hansen Agricultural Research and Extension Center

4:05 p.m. Opening Remarks—Matt LaVere, Ventura County Supervisor District 1

4:10 p.m. Improving Outcomes of Tree Growing and Forest Restoration Efforts—Karen Holl, Professor of Environmental Studies, UC Santa Cruz

4:50 p.m. Climate Resilience through Urban Greening—Edith de Guzman, UC Cooperative Extension Specialist, Water Equity and Adaptation Policy, UCLA

5:30 p.m. Closing—Annemiek Schilder 

Wednesday, May 15: Optimizing Tree Survival in a Changing Climate

4 p.m. Welcome—Emma Volk, Production Horticulture Advisor, UCCE Ventura and Santa Barbara counties

4:05 p.m. Cooling Urban Heat Islands with Climate-Resilient Trees—Janet Hartin, Environmental Horticulture Advisor, UCCE Los Angeles and San Bernardino counties

4:30 p.m. Keeping Trees Healthy from Sapling to Maturity—James Downer, Environmental Horticulture and Plant Pathology Advisor Emeritus, UCCE Ventura County

5:05 p.m. Dealing with the Inevitable Threat of Exotic and Invasive Pests—John Kabashima, Environmental Horticulture Advisor Emeritus, UCCE Orange County

5:30 p.m. Closing—Emma Volk 

Thursday, May 16: Tree Advocacy and Planning at the Local Level

4 p.m. Welcome—Julie Clark, Natural Resources Community Education Specialist, UCCE Ventura County

4:05 p.m. Native Tree Restoration with Partners and the Public—Joey Algiers, Restoration Ecologist, Santa Monica Mountains National Recreation Area

4:30 p.m. Panel Discussion (Joey Algiers, moderator):

• Joey Algiers, Santa Monica Mountains National Recreation Area
• Mireille Vargas, County of Ventura Sustainability Division
• Mikaela Randolph, Green Schoolyards America
• Jan Scow, Registered Consulting Arborist, Ojai Valley
• Max Young, Ventura Regional Fire Safe Council

5:30 p.m. Closing—Julie Clark

 

Electrical weed control in organic blueberry - Oregon State cooperators

Several of us are part of a multi-state project on electrical weed control in organic blueberry and orchard crops. Tong Zhen is the lead grad student researcher on the UC Davis part of the project and we are working closely with our counterparts at...

2,000 Climate-Ready Trees Provided to Residents of Low Shade Neighborhoods

To date, over 2,000 climate-ready shade trees and tips on their planting and long-term care have been provided by UC Master Gardeners and over 20 partners to residents of low shade neighborhoods in San Bernardino and Riverside Counties through the “Trees for Tomorrow Start Today” project. Tree species given away are identified from research projects including the joint University of California/United States Forest Service (USFS) study at UC Riverside as well as from other research, local observations, and input from the green industry and academic colleagues.

The "Trees for Tomorrow Start Today" project was implemented in 2019 by Area UC Cooperative Extension Horticulture Advisor Janet Hartin with support from Mandy Parkes, Inland Empire Resource Conservation District Manager. A "train the trainer" model provided education to Master Gardener volunteers from San Bernardino County on project elements and follow-up. Master Gardeners now manage many of the events. In 2023, the program expanded into Riverside County. Several other Master Gardener programs throughout the state have also expressed interest in implementing the "Trees for Tomorrow Start Today" project.

Why is this project so important? 95% of Californians now reside in cities and suburban environments. Resulting urban heat islands created by built environments coupled with impacts of climate change can be mitigated through nature-based solutions. Planting climate-ready shade trees now will help ensure cooler urban areas in the next several decades as trees mature and maximize their urban ecosystem benefits. Fortunately, the shade from a single well-placed tree can decrease surface temperatures of black asphalt and artificial turf by more than 70 degrees F in hot inland and desert cities. Studies show that surrounding air temperatures can also be reduced through the transpiration process.

A major goal of the"Trees for Tomorrow Start Today" project is to enhance tree canopy cover in low shade neighborhoods also plagued with much higher than average levels of air pollution and pulmonary and cardiovascular disease incidence. Events over the past month have occurred in Fontana, San Bernardino, and the Salton Sea.

Other partners include San Bernardino County, City of San Bernardino, California Climate Action Fellows, Tree People, Coachella Valley Resource Conservation District, Alianza Coachella Valley, Inland Empire Urban Conservation Corps, several water districts, and other groups.  

Thank you to all our partners and, especially, our tree recipients, for greening and cooling your yard and neighborhood! 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

A Presidential Love of Bees: From 'Bee Houses' to 'Bee Trees'

Today, on Presidents' Day, let's buzz back in history to our first President and his love of honey bees. Picture this: George Washington (Feb. 22, 1732-Dec. 14, 1799) is eating hoecakes with honey, and adding honey to his tea, something that historians...

A feral honey bee colony (now gone) in Vacaville, Calif. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

A feral honey bee colony (now gone) in Vacaville, Calif. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

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